This invention relates to a thermostatic valve for controlling water flow.
This patent application deals with a constructive arrangement as applied to an integrated thermostatic valve device attached to its housing, with an innovative conception, and providing significant technological and functional improvements, in accordance with the most modern concepts of automotive engineering, and in accordance with the required norms and specifications, which give it its own characteristics and the fundamental requisite of novelty, thereby resulting in a series of real and extraordinary technical, practical and economic advantages.
Previously thermostatic valves were attached to the housing which was after fixed to the engine, and only then did they receive the lid coupling, such procedures resulting in more labor, loss of time and an increase in operational and production costs. Assembly was more complex, demanded more time and labor, as well as increasing the manufacturing costs. It also demanded special attention so that the necessary precision relative to the assembly of the thermostat on the housing was achieved, although on many occasions this was not achieved, and consequently this had a negative influence on the functioning of the device, which left a lot to be desired as far as the quality of the final product and the guarantee that it would work well were concerned.
Over time, studies were carried out which sought to eliminate these problems and inconveniences and as a result, a technique was developed that permitted a new constructive arrangement for the thermostat to be conceived, out of which grew the possibility of integrating the thermostatic valve with its own housing, thereby obtaining an single product with real possibilities for arriving at an economic manufacturing process, by minimizing costs, assembly time and labor expenses, as well as having a much needed effect on assembly, leading to better results and a high level of safety.
From the way in which this integrated device was conceived, it was possible to drastically reduce its dimensions and consequently the amount of material used, thereby improving the cost/benefit relationship in relation to the value needed to increase the assembly, allowing for maximum facilitation when it came to attaching it to the engine.
This design allowed for parts (housing and lid) to be conceived with the appropriate shape and ideal placement to meet all the functional and installation needs. The re-dimensioning of these parts to fit conventional housings allowed interfaces with all other connecting parts, such as hoses and the engine, to be respected, thereby taking advantage of the spaces of the other attachment components.
The integrated device also offered real possibilities for economies in manufacturing and a significant reduction in labor costs, because it provided a very accurate way of assembling the thermostatic valve, in such a way as to get the best results, the best operating conditions of the engine, the best finish on the final product and competent engineering.
In general terms, the thermostatic valve is made up of a working element or temperature sensor, a bridge that supports the whole device, a helical spring that is located between the supporting bridge and a side rim attached to the aforementioned temperature sensor that determines the amount of obstruction and controls the flow of cooling liquid, and a pin for centralizing the assembly, located on the upper surface of the working element or temperature sensor.
In order to achieve the integration of the thermostatic valve with the housing, the latter was provided with two legs fitted at right angles, on the facing surfaces of which there is a recess, into which the ends of the supporting bridge are slotted in such a way as to lock. The centralization of the thermostatic valve is achieved by placing the centralizing pin in a small slot in an internal projection of the housing, thereby fixing the whole of the thermostat device and joining it to the housing as a whole.
The innovation proposed has to do with a thermostatic valve attached to its housing using a new constructive arrangement, which has been conceived with important technological and functional improvements, more particularly with regard to the attaching procedure, which is done differently from the way described for the integrated devices mentioned above, and which have been the object of various patents both requested by and granted to the present petitioner. With this particular innovation the two legs at right angles are removed from the housing where the supporting bridge and whole of the thermostatic valve device are attached, which in addition to other technical, practical and functional advantages, as well as giving the product more robustness, which is ideal for achieving its operational and installation needs, improves the cost/benefit factor and provides economical solutions (construction simplicityxe2x80x94a single device), greater physical free space, simple maintenance and thermodynamics.